Pubdate: Sun, 13 Feb 2005
Source: Independent on Sunday (UK)
Copyright: Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/208
Author: Sophie Goodchild

DRUG ADDICTS TURNING TO HERBAL HIGHS

Plans to outlaw magic mushrooms have raised fears of a surge in the
use of potentially harmful hallucinogenic herbs and plants. Drugs
experts are calling for these legal so-called herbal highs, now widely
available on the internet and in high street shops, to carry clear
warning labels because inexperienced users mistakenly believe they are
safe.

These dried or powdered substances include salvia divinorum, a variety
of sage which can be smoked. Salvia is not a controlled drug in
Britain but has been banned in Italy, Denmark and Australia because it
can leave users disoriented.

At the end of last year, the Government announced that hallucinogenic
fungi would be treated as a class A drug such as heroin or cocaine,
with harsh penalties for supplying or possessing them.

But these new laws do not extend to herbs such as salvia, which has
now become one of the biggest sellers on the legal drugs market and is
cheaper than some illegal drugs at between UKP8 and UKP25 a packet. Many
of these "natural" drugs, now being sold on sites such as eBay,
imitate illegal stimulants. For example, kratom resin, which has been
banned in Thailand but is again widely available in this country,
produces an effect similar to that of opiates.

However, the doses of these "alternatives" are often difficult to
judge, resulting in lethal consequences. Angel's trumpet contains the
chemical scopolamine which can cause unconsciousness and death. The
plant, which grows in parks and gardens, is responsible for several
deaths in the US where it is banned.

DrugScope, the harm reduction charity, said the clampdown on magic
mushrooms will mean users will instead experiment with unfamiliar
alternatives.

A spokeswomen said: "The change will mean people are going to move to
herbal solutions. Any information regarding harm and understanding the
risks has got to be a lot more effective than using criminal penalties."

One worrying new trend is young people mixing natural drugs with other
substances such as amino acids to increase their high but with
potentially dangerous side effects such as panic attacks and heart
problems. Another concern is that the increasingly lucrative herbal
high market may be taken over by gangs who do not care about quantity,
dosage or the age of their customers.

Andrea Zangara, an expert in the side effects of drugs, has carried
out a study into the use in Europe of legal and natural high-inducing
substances and is planning a similar investigation in Britain. "There
is a growing interest for a wide range of "smart drugs" [mood
enhancing] and "legal highs" which are freely available in trendy
shops," said Mr Zangara, a researcher in the Department of Human
Cognitive Neuroscience at Northumbria University.

The current government strategy on drugs is targeted at illegal class
A drugs. The Home Office said laws had been tightened up on magic
mushrooms because its active ingredients are already classified as
class A drugs under existing laws. A spokesman said that the
Government would legislate on other substances only on the advice of
the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. 
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